Arranging the music of one song...

Last but not least, the main man himself, project director Shariq Ansari writes:

"The Monk is a martial artist, and coincidentally, so am I. As some of you may be aware, I practice Shaolin Northern Dragon Style Kung Fu, and every year I go up to Chinatown in New York City with my school and we perform the Lion Dance in front of all the stores up there for the Chinese New Year. Part of the Lion Dance involves us wheeling a giant drum around, and I happen to be one of the drummers who gets to make a lot of noise in the streets every year. Gentle Fist is my first remix that isn’t made entirely with free soundfonts and FL Studio preset sounds; I’m using an ethnic library called Ra here for all of the Chinese instruments. I wanted to evoke an Eastern kind of feeling here, and the big drum with the rimshots is something you hear a lot when you’re out in Chinatown doing the Lion Dance, and indeed, something you can practice your Kung Fu forms to. The rhythms aren’t entirely the same (my master would kill me if they were), but I came up with something I thought would be fun to play. I hope everyone enjoys."

I can totally see this as "training montage" music for a heart-warming film about a young kid who gets bullied and then learns discipline and respect by studying with Pat Morita, Jackie Chan, etc. and eventually faces his enemies - while growing as a person. But I kid; DarkeSword's really gone outside his usual sound with something that's far more ethnic than standard motif, but the emphasis on shimmering melodies and delicate, refined accompaniment is still there. I dig what sounds like shamisen patterns, taiko rumbles, and erhu, as the whole arrangement embraces an Eastern instrumentation that still has a Western melodic push & structure to it, and the contemplative, fade-to-duet conclusion is also something you don't hear often and which works well.

Fantastic work from Shariq, who gets kudos for putting this entire album series together, and a general congratulations to all who were & will be involved; while we're only on part one of five, I've got a feeling WIND will be well-received, and that WATER, FIRE, EARTH, and DAWN will successfully continue expanding and developing The Fabled Warriors project while paying tribute to Uematsu's amazing music. Please help us spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, and anywhere else you think appropriate, head on over to ff5.ocremix.org to grab the whole enchilada, help us seed the torrent, and enjoy another great OC ReMix album!

Discussion

Sounds like the perfect ReMix for a martial artist training
feeling combined with FFV sources. Very Eastern feeling and I
thought the song went through enough changes to keep the interest
going. Really love that ending. So, not only am I impressed by
this great ReMix, but hearing that DarkeSword knows Dragon Style
Kung Fu is pretty cool, too. Great stuff, man.

I'm not picking up the "training montage" vibe from it. I suppose
its cause I've always associated training montage with You're the
Best Around or Eye of the Tiger.

But definitely this just feels just so right for the Theme of
Monk.

One can just feel the power and strength of the melody. The word
that keeps coming to my mind is "unbreakable". There's strong,
powerful moments in it, but it's never up in you're face about
it. It just feels so calming yet vibrant; like I mentioned before
it's like a slice off the Okami soundtrack. I can definitely hear
this being played as Amaterasu races across the land.

Though there are some close seconds, but this mix is my favorite
from the album. DS handled the delicate theme perfectly with the
leads, while setting the stage nicely with the backing
instruments and percussion. Probably my only gripe is it feels a
bit rehashed near the end, so it probably could've been a bit
shorter or switched up for the last take on the theme.

I don't know what's more amazing. That DS routinely makes amazing
mixes with free sounds and FL Studio presets, or just how awesome
he can make a mix using new sounds.

Either way, this is quite stunning. I love how it is constantly
evolving, and really does take the source in a direction I would
never have thought of, or guessed. I remember when I first played
the game, this track really did strike me as relatively boring,
and quite dreary in comparison to the rest of the soundtrack and
the overall aesthetic.

This really does capitalize on that melody though, I love the
sound choices here. Definitely feeling the DS style of cascading
sounds, never really building up to a climax but never feeling
short of energy either.

Right on, Darkesword! Celebrating the Lion Dance at New Year
sounds like a whole lot of fun.

I'm absolutely loving this mix! The texturing and layering of the
samples is fresh and interesting. Great choice of distinctive
samples you've used, and the sample quality from that Ra pack
sounds very nearly authentic. Delighting in the spirit of the
whole thing. You've triumphed again!

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